As an estate planning attorney, I know how important what is known as “tangible personal property” is to people. Generally there are two types of property: real property and personal property. Real property is land and buildings, and personal property is everything else. That includes money, stocks, patents, digital assets, etc. When we talk about...
Today’s crazy estate planning story comes from the New York Times, He Left a Fortune, to No One. Roman Blum died in New York last year at 97 years old. He was a Holocaust survivor and a successful real estate developer worth over $40 million. Not only did he die intestate, which means without a...
I was at a networking event today, and I was talking with a guy in his twenties — healthy, unmarried, no children, minimal assets and minimal debt. He said he wanted to talk to me about me doing a “revocable living trust” for him. When I asked him why he thought he needed one, he...
In my previous post, I discussed why a Will is essential for almost everybody, so that a person can decide how his property is disposed of upon his death, instead of having the State decide for him, per a preset list of rules. And while planning for what happens after death is a large part...
I meet people all the time — single people, married people, with and without children who have none of their estate planning documents in place. There are a number of reasons as to why people don’t get their documents in order — worry about the cost is often a reason given (although it does not...
MegaMillions mania is sweeping the nation. With the grand prize over $500 million, people are dreaming of what they would do with the money, and how they would share it with their families and friends. One one hand, the odds of winning – 1 in 175 million – are infinitesimal. But hey, someone has to win,...
I saw this story this morning that made me shake my head in wonder, and in a little bit of jealousy. Apparently, three money managers from Greenwich, Connecticut won $254 million in the Powerball lottery. If you don’t know, Greenwich is a New York City suburb and one of the richest in the country. Apparently,...
I was talking to someone the other day who wanted to change their Will, which was not originally drafted by me, and asked me if I would do a a codicil for them. I told them no. While I would be happy to draft a new will from scratch, I don’t do codicils to wills...